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Doepfer Dark Energy

Doepfer Dark Energy

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 8:55 pm

by breckjay

has any one played this synth? i saw one one crags list for $600 and wanted to get some feed back about it. it really don't look like much but it has good reviews. its 100% analog which is the best, but would like a second opinion. any thoughts or comments on the Doepfer Dark Energy?

Re: Doepfer Dark Energy

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:04 pm

by vvd

well, its great! no synced LFO's, so when you're into wobble bass you would have to use some software filter. here's a track i've made where all sounds are DE (drums too):

it's my most used synth because my other synths are digital and less hands-on.i have also connected the audio input to a send on my mixer. allows for sound mangling of drums or other material. and i can feedback the DE output to it's input for extra fatness!vvd

Re: Doepfer Dark Energy

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:12 pm

by nuketifromorbit

600 isn't that great of a price considering it sells for 625. I got mine for 575 new from analog haven during one of their ten percent off sales. That being said its a great little synth and despite having only one oscillator its capable of a surprising amount of sounds due to its fm rate lfo's and the ability to linear frequency modulate the filter.

Re: Doepfer Dark Energy

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:22 pm

by vinyl_junkie

Man the DE is only £300 new here

Looks like a good start, it may only have one OSC but it's a good one..the synth it's self is very fat sounding.More Moog like than 101It's a gate way synth in that if you buy one you realise that you have a midi / cv interface and some basic modular expansions (EG, LFO) then that starts you thinking.Small modular cases with a psu can be had for £56 or so from Thomann, a wasp filter is £50, another LFO is £40.... before you know it you’ve bought a 9u modular case and have stuffed it full of £3000 worth of modules lol

Re: Doepfer Dark Energy

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:30 pm

by vinyl_junkie

vvd wrote:well, its great! no synced LFO's, so when you're into wobble bass you would have to use some software filter. here's a track i've made where all sounds are DE (drums too):

it's my most used synth because my other synths are digital and less hands-on.i have also connected the audio input to a send on my mixer. allows for sound mangling of drums or other material. and i can feedback the DE output to it's input for extra fatness!vvd

That's a really nice track you have done there with the DE

I keep putting off do buy one...don't know why, my mate has one but he uses it with a big A-100 system...It would be great if the at least one of the LFO's could key track then you could use them as a extra OSC.

It's tracks like these that keep saying..go'wan buy one lol

Re: Doepfer Dark Energy

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 12:25 pm

by Lindsay

Agreed, that's an awesome track vvd.

Re: Doepfer Dark Energy

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 2:35 pm

by impaler42

Used to have one of these. It does exponential FM which is pretty nice. The layout is pretty intuitive as well.

Re: Doepfer Dark Energy

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 6:32 pm

by memory cords

I have a Dark Energy and I like it a lot. Really glad I bought it. The range of the LFOs is great (super slow to super fast) and the basic tone is good. It can sound nasty or smooth depending on how you tweak it. As vvd mentioned you can also use it to process other synths and drum machines. I use it for basslines, drones, leads and effects and it's effective at doing all of those.

Some good Dark Energy Videos on youtube, they show the range of sounds it's capable of:

Also have a look at the Vermona Mono Lancet, the Analog Solutions Semblance/Telemark, the MFB Kraftzwerg, and the new TomOberheim.com SEM. They are very similar to the Dark Energy featurewise and all of them (including the Dark Energy) are good so you can't go wrong.

Re: Doepfer Dark Energy

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 9:40 pm

by Sir Ruff

vvd wrote:well, its great! no synced LFO's, so when you're into wobble bass you would have to use some software filter. here's a track i've made where all sounds are DE (drums too):

it's my most used synth because my other synths are digital and less hands-on.i have also connected the audio input to a send on my mixer. allows for sound mangling of drums or other material. and i can feedback the DE output to it's input for extra fatness!vvd

great demo! Always very impressed with those making whole tracks from one monophonic synth!

Re: Doepfer Dark Energy

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 8:14 am

by James Mandible

I've been tempted on this one for a while but Analogue Haven always seems to be out of them and as far as I know they're the only US dealer. The videos look great and the idea of built in modular interface is a huge turn-on for me. Hopefully I'll pick one up eventually.

Re: Doepfer Dark Energy

Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 2:52 pm

by theglyph

James Mandible wrote:I've been tempted on this one for a while but Analogue Haven always seems to be out of them and as far as I know they're the only US dealer.